A dry tip electrosurgical device, such as a Bovie pencil, can cause the temperature of tissue being treated to rise significantly higher than 100° C., resulting in tissue desiccation, tissue sticking to the electrodes, tissue perforation, char formation and smoke generation.
More recently, fluid-assisted electrosurgical devices have been developed use saline to inhibit undesirable effects such as tissue desiccation, electrode sticking, smoke production and char formation. However, too much saline can provide too much electrical dispersion and cooling at the electrode/tissue interface. This reduces the temperature of the tissue being treated and, in turn, can result in longer treatment time needed to achieve the desired tissue temperature for treatment of the tissue. Long treatment times are undesirable for surgeons since it is in the best interest of the patient, physician and hospital to perform surgical procedures as quickly as possible.